A Few Words on Balance

Weekly Teaching Tip – Oct. 2, 2017
by Agata Pisko

Our body is amazing. As soon as we use balance in any activity, we tend to feel better, our life is more colorful.
I definitely love to use the same idea as far my voice goes.
I have decided that I will begin to balance my voice already at the very first note of my range. I use the term: repect your body – respect any tone you sing.
Moreover, I have lately found a wonderful description of ‘the modal voice register’ in the book of James C. McKinney ‘The Diagnosis and Correction of Vocal Faults’. He also describes why we as singers get to feel the break in our voices at all.
I would like to share this passage with you. Page 97:
“The confusion which exists concerning what a register is, and how many registers there are, is due in part to what takes place in the modal register when a person sings from the lowest pitches of that register to the highest pitches. The frequency of vibration of the vocal folds is determined by their length, tension and mass. As pitch rises, the vocal folds are lengthened, tension increases, and their edges become thinner. In other words, all three of these factors are in a state of flux in the transition from the lowest to the highest tones: length increases, tension increases and thickness decreases.
If a singer holds any of these factors constant and interferes with their progressive state of change, his laryngeal function tends to become static and eventually breaks occur, with obvious changes of quality.These breaks are often identified as register boundaries or as transition areas between registers. In actuality, it is more likely they are simply vocal problems which have been created by a static laryngeal adjustment that does not permit the necessary changes to take place!’
Balance the voice at the very first note you sing. Use this active feeling in all tones you sing. There will not be a single break.
Our body is amazing.